El Fogoncito

This place is great. The owner is friendly, the food has an authentic feel, and the location is convenient. Not too greasy, which is always a risk with Mexican. Hidden gem!

My wife and I travel a great deal in our motorhome. We love Mexican food and look for local restaurants to enjoy as we travel. While in Burien we looked at the reviews of local restaurants and saw El Fogoncito was well reviewed. We had dinner there tonight and we were extremely impressed. The restaurant was as clean and pleasant as we have ever experienced. I liked the picture of the combo meal that was on their website. I orded the same and it was fabulous. The recipes were from their traditional family food and prepared by their 80 year old mother.
This is a special place. If you like really, really fresh and good Mexican food. This is a gem!

Poor quality food. Whiles our food waited at the window the owner sat down and worked on a computer. Once our food arrived it was luke warm. Had a carné asada poor quality meat, tasted bland and cold. The alambres were luke warm. Tacos dorados were bland as well. Only 1 table, besides us, in the restaurant. It appeared the other table received food faster. Blues clues for you lol try if you want to waste money. Azteca or rinconsito have better food.

Friendly service, great tasting food. The food was fresh and light. I will definitely go back to try other items on the menu. The prices were decent and the service was fast.

5 stars! Amazing food! From the outside this place doesnt look intriguing but once you walk in its so cute and comfortable it feels like your eating at your house. The owner is very friendly. My husband is from veracruz and he says it taste like home. The passion fruit juice is sooo good and fresh. We will definitely be back :)

This is kind of a odd place, but I’ve always had great service from everyone working there.
I only come here for tacos because I feel they make the best Carne Asada and el Pastor tacos in all of burien. They’re always perfect.
I wish it was just a little bit cheaper, but they go the extra mile and give me avocado in my tacos which I really appreciate.

I love this place! The food is fresh and delicious and the service is like being at your grandmother’s house. Sweet, friendly and helpful. We had the nachos for an appetizer. Delicious! Then my hubby’s burrito and my chimi were both excellent. And huge. I know what I’m having for lunch tomorrow! Mmmmm… I’m full but I can’t wait. They have additional hot sauces available. They are both hotter than what they bring with the chips. And delicious.

Non GMO good authentic food. Reasonably priced and good service. I have no idea why this place is not more packed. Yes the parking is not ideal but it is worth it. And Arturo the owner makes some really good cocktails as well.

This has to be the best authinic Mexican restaurant that Burien has beside the burrito busses. The food melts in your mouth staff is very friendly very small bar but the food makes up for it. Prices are very good. Better than Azteca

The only positive thing about this place is the fact that the owner is friendly enough, but good god man, get your shit together!
We ordered Carne Asada, Tacos Al Pastor, and blended strawberry margaritas.
The Asada was extremely bland and used poor quality meat, and for some strange reason they came with French fries (crappy frozen ones to boot). The tacos were dry and lacked flavor as well.
The margaritas were the worst I’ve ever had… They were completely warm, like they were blended without ice. Not sure how you mess that up, but they were terrible.
I’m not one to write bad reviews on a whim, but this is legitimately the worst Mexican food I’ve ever had.
The fact that we were the ONLY people there at 7:30 on a Friday evening should have been a sign, but I guess we had to learn the hard way.

Though this place has a few flubs when it comes to service and consistency, the food is my favorite Mexican food in the area. The service is friendly, though often you will see the casual and relaxed timing more prominent in mexican culture. Not necessarily the place to go for a quick dine-​in, though carryout is handled promptly so always an option. Everything we’ve tried on the menu has been well above average and the sauces and salsas stand far superior to most places. Out of the way and in a somewhat run-​down building and corner of town, it is easy to miss this place. I strongly urge anyone reading this to search it out and give them a try. It is my hope they will be there for a long time and be able to build that little restaurant into a real go-​to spot for our town.

Looking for Mexican food in Burien, we decided on EF based on reviews. Brrrrrrr. The place was empty and like an icebox on a weekend afternoon. I ordered the chicken dorado tacos and the BF had a wet carne asada burrito with the red and green sauce. Server/​host brought out water, chips and salsa. The salsa seemed more like bottled El Tapatio hot sauce than salsa. It also made an appearance atop the burrito. I had a bite of the burrito and it was more rice and beans, less meat. Kinda blah — Taco Del Mar’s are even better. The chicken dorado tacos were kind of dry — 4 of them sitting atop a nice little pile of romaine, tomatoes, queso and sour cream drizzle. Heaping pile of rice came with. Disappointing lunch. If you think the dining room is chilly, venture back to the bathroom — frigidly cold and unpleasant.

Recently I have tried to hit a place up at least twice before giving five stars, and this palce has it. Tonight I had the alambre, and it was served on a cast iron skillet and seasoned to perfection. Also, although general sin, ordered a blended strawberry margarita, and was delighted to see he used actual strawberries.
I’m coming back, and so should you.

Best asada tacos in burien. Fresh, moist, yummy! Also, very good refried beans. My daughter is super picky (even more so than her mother) and she really likes the refried beans. They served her bean burrito with whole beans. She will request with refried next time :-)

Delicious. Don’t let the ambiance and price-​point fool you, the food here is top-​notch. I could dine here on just rice, beans, and tortillas and my mouth would be delighted. I had tacos al pastor and the pork was perfectly flavorful and tender. My friend’s carne asada was equally delicious. The owner made my natural margarita with just tequila and lime juice, as the gods intended. We sampled a pico de gallo and two other salsas — verda y roja, and both were super tasty. When I asked to compliment the cook I learned from the owner, Arturro, «es mi mama!» This is a fantastic family-​owned and run restaurant. If it were in my neighborhood, I would eat there at least three times a week. It is good enough for me to actually plan to travel to Burien to eat there again. I can’t wait to try some of their house specialties.
The space is not too fancy, and Spanish TV was playing audibly the entire time we were there, but there were table cloths and fresh flowers on each table, and service was extremely friendly. And they have an outside dining area.
Oh, and I can’t tell you how much I love that there is no stupid garnish of iceberg lettuce tainting the plate as seems so common at some places.

After reading the other reviews my first thought these people have a lot of family writing reviews or I found a hidden Gem. Well turned out this simple but very comfortable place is a hidden Gem. The portions we large, prices were reasonable, the young lady that served us was the owners daughter was very polite and did a great job serving. The food was very flavorful, sauces for the table two mild 2 hot great to have a choice and variety. As we were leaving the kitchen was open, and I gave it a visual inspection, super clean, nothing out of place, not one thing out of place or on the floor, super thumbs up folks. The dishes very flavorful, this isnt fancy, or anything else then a clean location white table cloths, great food, place you can take the family, a date, or even your wife lol. Please stop by sits on a corner the outside isnt fancy its very average. But I dont eat the outside, but I do eat what comes from a clean kitchen and well portioned plates

Veracruz inspired and it tastes it. There are subtle differences in Mexican food, and it’s a treat to find a place that stays true to their roots. This is very authentic, Veracruz.
My mole was delicious and the sides were simple and fresh.
Not fancy, just a place where the owner is dedicated to doing what he does best.
Give them a try!

Try the empanadas; they were amazing

I have eaten here three times now and have not been disappointed! I’ve tried the empanadas (potato & cheese), the chicken enchiladas verde and the chicken tacos dorados and they have all been wonderful! They serve ice cold beer and the water has fresh lemons in it… ahhh refreshing :)
The owners are as nice as can be, very attentive. The restaurant is clean and welcoming. It’s a cozy place to meet friends for lunch, have dinner with the family or put back a few cervezas after a long day (open ’til 10:00pm).
Next on the agenda is to try their breakfast…

This is Burien’s best kept secret. Amazing, fresh, fast delicious Veracruz style food. If you are not familiar; it is delicious! The cooks are three friendly smiling women with love and years of experience who know what they are doing! Service is gracious, the restaurant clean. I almost cried over my first taco as I have been dying to taste al pastor tacos since I lived in Veracruz 14 years ago. Took my teen son 4 tacos after school; he BEGGED me to stop on the way home, we did, he ate 5 more tacos and hugged the owner before we left! We have returned several times since and have introduced many friends and co-​workers! Forget about Taco Time across the street, you can have two fresh meaty homemade delicious tacos for $ 3 and they are so fast for to go orders. Check it out, let’s keep a place with good food around here!!!